Switch-lock



ILL. BURTON.

SWITCH LOCK. APPLICATION FILED JULY 24, 1919.

Patented July 192? Applicati on filed July as,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN; L; BURTON, a

citizenof the United States, residing at Hamlet,in the county oi. Richmond and fiitateof North Carolina,have invented certam. new i and useful Improvements in Switch-Lockaoifj which theiollowing is a specification. i h i h i Thisflinvention relates to railway switches and more especially to safety devices foruse in connection therewith, the invention having asone of its principal objccts to provide a lock for securing the switch points in eitheropen or closed position. i

. Thejinvention has as acfurther.objectto provide a lock which, even though the mechanism for throwing the switch should, as

1 frequently occurs, become brolren or disarranged. by accident, will, nevertheless, op-

eratetolock the switch. i a a The invention has as a further object to provide a lock which will prevent the switch tiflpoints from being moved either by accident or with malicious purpose.

And the invention ha as a still further ob ject toprovidea lock which can be applied to substantially any conventional type of 1131 switch but which will, by preierence,be apa Referring now more particularly to the it drawings, l have illustrated my improved lock in. connection with aconventional railway lswitchp: The tree are ll'lCllCdiJGfil at fl and overlying the ties are rails which are connected with the ties by ordinary fastening neans such as spikesfd. Associated with the rails are the switch points Pandin Fig. 1 1i have shown diagrammatically the rnechanism for throwing these points from a switch standtld disposed at one sideof the track, thepoints being. connectedby the JOHN L. BURTON, OF HAMLET, NORTH CAROLINA.

Specification 0r Letters Patent.

swIron-Locir.

1919.- Serial No. 313,060.

usual bridle bar B so that they will move in unison.

Coming now more particularly to the subject of the present invention, I employ come panion oblong casings 10. lhese casings are seated in suitable recesses cutin the tie and are arranged with their outer sides lying flush with one side faceof the tie. Over- Patented J uly 1B, 1920..

lyingthe casings are removable overhanging chair plates. 11 which form closures for the casings and seat fiat against theupper face of the t1e. Depending from said plates are flanges 12 coacting with the end and side walls of the casings for rigidly holding the plates against both longitudinal and transverse movement. Adj acent corresponding ends, the plates are cut away at their upper sides to provide seats 13 for the bases oi the rails it while the opposite end portions of the plates form wear blocks 14 raised with respect to the seats and slidably supporting the switch points P. Upstanding from the plates at the outer sides of the rail seats are spaced flanges-15 engaging over the rail bases while similar flanges l6rise from the plates at the outer ends of the wear blocks and form stops for the switch points. Securing the chair plates at their ends are spikes driven into the tieand engaging over the overhanging end portions of the plates. At their outer sides the casings are provided withsuitable drain openings 1?.

Normally projecting. through suitable openings in the wear blocks 14L of the chair plates are belts or stops 18 which may be integrally formedat their lower ends with tail portions providing flat springs 19 curved toward their outer ends downwardly and inwardly to seat flat against the bottom walls of the casings to which walls the end portions oi the springs are suitably secured. As

will be clear, the springs will normally projectthe stops through the wear blocks while, at the same time the stops may, nevertheless be retracted. To insure proper projection ofthe stops, should the springs 19 become broken, supplemental springs 20 are provided. These springs are arranged directly beneath the stops to bear against the bottom walls of the casings and are held by suitable centering lugs.

@lournaled through the side walls of the casings are rock shafts 21 provided at their are rods or links which are pivotally secured to a lever 26 common to both of the links. The lever is pivotally mountedupon a' plate secured in any approved manner to the adjacent face of the tie and said lever is provided at its free end with a hasp 27 engageable over a staple 28 driven into the tie, this staple being designed, of course, to receive a lock securing the lever against movement. As will be clear, the lever 25 may be swung for rocking the cams 23 and it is now to be observed that these cams are so set upon the rock shafts that when the lever is swung in either direction, one cam will be moved to release one of the stops 1'8- while the other cam will be moved to retract the other stop, the fiat faces 24 on the cams being provided for limiting the .cams in. their turning movement to active 1 position. As will be seen, the flat .face of that cam whichis turned to retract one of the stops will'loe broughtinto contact with the tail portion of said stop for thus arresting turningimovement' of both of the cams. This constructlon provides an arrangement whereby it may be easily determined when the lever 25 has been swung suflic'iently as well" as'an arrangement whereby, when the lever is released from its hasp 28, the cams 1 will be locked against accidental pivotal movement. V

In F ig.'1 of thejdrawings I have shown the switch set in normal closed position. .'When soset it will be observed as shown at the left of the figure, that one of the stops 18 will project in front of the adjacent switch'poin'tfor thus blocking movement of 1 both of the switch points while the other step will be depressed. Furthermore, the

. to open the switch. However, when it is desired to operate theswitch it is simply necessary to disengage the look from the staple 28 when the lever 25 may be swung to de-' press'the active stop, as shown at the left lever 25 will be disposed in vertical position so'that its hasp 27 may be engaged over the staple '28 and a lock connected to the staple for thus securing the switch closed. Either accidentalormalicious opening of the switch will'consequently be prevented. Furthermore, it is to be noted that injury to the switch actuating mechanism can not serve of Fig. 1 andfree the other or inactive stop,"either-block when in active position being: freely movable downwardly past its adjacent switch point. The switch points may then be moved in the ordinary manner either from an adjacent switch stand,

asshown at SS, or from a distant signal tower. Upon therelease of the inactive stop of the switch lock this stopwill, as

ment of the switch particularly brought out at the right of F ig. 1, be projected by its tail portion against the base of the adjacent switch point. Consequently, when the switch is thrown, said stop will, as soon as the switch point clears the stop, be moved outwardly behind the switch point for locking the switch open. This, if course, would also hold good in connection with the other stop for locking the switch closed. It will accordingly be seen that I provide a very effective type of switch lock which, even though the switch operating mechanism should be rendered inoperative, will still function to securely lock the switch.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimedas new is:

l. A switch lock including a switch point stop provided with a tail forming a spring normally projecting the stop to active position, and means adapted to act upon the tail of the stop to retract the stop.

' 2. In a railway switch lock, the combination with a switch point, of a stop having main and auxiliary springs for projecting the stop to active position blocking movepoint, and means for retra'cting the stop.

3. A switch point lock including companion switch point stops normally urged to acswitch point stop, and a cam mounted below the stop and rotatable to shift the stop to inactive position.

5. A railway switch lock including a switch point stop, means normally urging the stop to active position, and means arranged to engage the first means for retracting the stop.

6. A railway switch lock including a switch point stop, means normally urging the stop to active position, means arranged to engage the first means for retracting the stop, and means carried by said second mentioned means to seat against the first means for arresting movement of said last mentioned means when the stop is retracted.

7. A railway switch lock including a switch point stop, means normally urging the stop to active position, and a cam arranged to engage the first means for retracting the stop and provided with a flat face to seat against the first means for arresting movement of the cam when the stop is retracted.

8. A railway switch lock including a switch point stop, a spring normally urging the stop to active position, and means ar ranged to engage the spring for flexing the spring and retracting the stop. 7

9. A railway switch lock including companion switch point stops normally urged to wit ess active position, and earns simultaneously r0: tatable for releasing either stop and retracting the other.

10. In a switch point lock, the combina tion of a casing, a switch point stop having means secured Within the casing and supporting the stop, said means being adapted to normally project the stop from the casing in active position, and means supported by and housed Within the casing for retracting said stop.

11. In a switch point lock,the combination of a casing, a chair plate closing the easing, a switch point stop normally projecting from the casing through said plate in active position, and means within the casing for retracting said stop.

12. In a switch point lock, the combination of a casing, a spring secured within the casing and provided with a switch point stop normally supported by the spring to project from the casing in active position, a rock lever journaled upon opposite walls of the casing, a cam carried by said lever within the casing and movable to retract the stop, and means for rocking the lever.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOHN L. BURTON. [Ls] 

